The Unforgiven
by Asche
Summary: Sephiroth's life. A video-fic adapted to Metallica's Unforgiven. I always thought it fit him well. Happy reaading.


A MUSIC VIDEO FIC

BY ASCHE LORENZ

UNFORGIVEN ã METALLICA 

ã CREEPING DEATH MUSIC 1991

THE UNFORGIVEN

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NEW BLOOD JOINS THIS EARTH

-Fade in- The walls are a dirty white and the scent of new death hangs heavy in the air. A nurse, distinguished by her uniform, picks a sleeping baby up off of a cart. It sleeps in a nest of blue blankets proclaiming it is a newborn boy. The mother he will never know lies dead in a tussle of sheets while a black hared man stands at the window, adjusting his glasses with a smirk curving his thin lips. --

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AND QUICKLY HE'S SUBDUED

--No more than three days old, the very same black hared man straps him to a cold steel table, preparing him for what will last a lifetime. He fills a syringe with a glowing green substance and injects it less than gently into the baby's upper arm. A young scream echoes through out the room.--

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THROUGH CONSTANT PAINED DISGRACE

--He sits alone, like he has since he could remember, picking up blocks and placing them atop one another carelessly. They topple to the ground in a messy pile and the laughs of the other children fill his ears. A frown twists his lips and he blinks back tears. Crawling to his feet, he picks up the blocks and places them in the toy box before going to sit in the corner until his nanny returned.--

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THE YOUNG BOY LEARNS THEIR RULES

--His feet make little sound as he runs barefoot down the endless halls. He stops at every door, franticly looking for one that will be unlocked before _they_ find him. Grappling the doorknob of the next door, he twists it and scrambles into the closet noiselessly. The door shuts with a soft click behind him.

Mops and brooms hog the corners, leaving little room for the small boy. The scent of soaps and ammonia cleaners assault his senses and he draws a sleeved hand up to cover his mouth and nose. Not daring enough to breath a sigh of relief, he squats down and sits in a pile of dirty rags, his legs shaking from his escape. For the first time in a long time he closes his eyes and begins to pray silently to his dead parents, begging them to hide him from the cruel scientists. For just one day, he wanted to go with out his special "treatments."

The door opened and the light clicked on. The boy stared into the angry face of the black hared man.--

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WITH TIME THE CHILD DRAWS IN

--He walks quietly to the lab. The last time he had tried to avoid that room was two years ago, and he could still feel the beating that he received that day. He knew he couldn't escape, not yet. It was then he decided to comply with the wishes of the man whom he had come to hate; Doctor Hojo Masamichi.--

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THIS WHIPPING BOY DONE WRONG

--It is dark save a greenish desk lamp lighting the corner of the room. The boy arises on the oh-too-familiar steel examining table. Raising a hand to his forehead, he holds back the knot in his throat, closing his eyes to the nightmares that replay in his mind. Green eyes opening once more, he turns his head to the source of the light to see a silhouette of a man sitting at a desk. That man is, Hojo.

Swinging his legs over the edge he slides down to the ground, making no more sound than a wary old house cat. He calls out to the man by name. His voice is soft and high like a young child's often is, but it holds an air of wisdom and strength within it. The man turns around, greasy hair framing his face. Hojo was frightening to the boy, but only a nightmare could be more so. _'What do you want?'_ Hojo growls. _'That damned tranquilizer should still be in effect.'_ The boy steps closer now, swallowing his fear down as he asks Hojo to for permission to sit with him. _'Go back to sleep boy.'_

Afraid to say anymore, the boy gives up and takes to his corner, tormented till dawn by visions from his dreams.--

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DEPRIVED OF ALL HIS THOUGHTS

--_'My mother is Jenova? But…Doctor Gast told me my mama's name was Luc-_' He is cut off by the sting of Hojo's hand on his cheek.

_'Her name is Jenova. Forget what that idiot Gast told you. He is WRONG. While you're at that task, why don't you forget all of the other stupid ideas that reside within that head of yours and focus harder on your training, brat!'_ Hojo storms out of the lab, leaving young Sephiroth in a cloud of confusion.--

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THE YOUNG MAN STRUGGLES ON AND ON HE'S KNOWN

--He fights against the bonds that hold him to the table as Hojo prepares another of the routine injections._ 'I'm tired of this Hojo! I demand that you stop!' _Hojo laughed. The boy was in to position to be making demands. _'If my father was alive, he would never have let you do all that you have done to me.' _The scientists laugh grew until he had to support himself on the table. He grinned down into the young man's eyes.

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'Boy, I assure you. Your father would be doing exactly what I am.'--

A VOW UNTO HIS OWN

--A young man sits at his desk, light from the small reading lamp flicking off his pen as it moves along scribbling lines across paper. A frown is harsh on his soft features as he writes angry words in a journal. A rapid knocking on his door arouses him from concentration. Dropping the pen across the book he stands and exits the room. On the last line, in bold letters "_No more_" can clearly be made out.--

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THAT NEVER FROM THIS DAY

--He can be seen in the training hall, long hair trailing behind him like a faithful shadow as he performs kata nine. He lands gracefully, bent low on one knee, slicing through an invisible opponent with his sword. Standing slowly, he bows his head and sheaths his weapon at his side, ignoring the sweat that clings to his pale face and dribbles down his arms in slow rivers.--

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HIS WILL THEY'LL TAKE AWAY

--He makes his way through the ranks of SOLDIER easily with his enhanced skills-much easier than any other man on the planet could have. At 21 years old he is already the general of the ShinRa army, and a well-respected member of the corporation itself. He walks through the crowded halls of the 61st floor, enroute to a mandatory meeting. Secretaries and executives move cautiously out of his way, keeping their eyes averted and heads low. Not only was he respected; he was feared.--

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WHAT I'VE FELT

--He lays in bed, eyes closed and dreaming. Flames tickle his hands and burn the flesh of faceless villagers. His sword cuts one man down, then a woman with a baby in her arms, and then a girl. He stops to look at her. Unlike the others, she had a face. Pink lips quivered and dimming green eyes stared into his, reflecting his own pain. _"I forgive you Sephiroth." _Tears form in the corner of his eyes and his jaw trembles. He drops his sword and falls to his knees screaming and clutching his head. _"What have I done?"--_

WHAT I'VE KNOWN

--A sword bit his cheek and he looked to his instructor with a chilling gaze. Getting up off his knee he swung his sword, anger plain in his harsh frown. Parry, parry. A strike. The older man falls to the ground and looks up to Sephiroth with shock in his eyes. His student then turns his back and leaves the room.-- 

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NEVER SHINED THROUGH IN WHAT I'VE SHOWN

--Hojo and President Shinra stand in front of him, looking up and yelling. Always yelling. _"Why do you berate me? I obeyed your orders! I defeated the Wutaiian Army! What more do you want from me old man! _-- 

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NEVER BE

--Back from a routine mission he opens the door to his empty apartment and walks in. A chair armed with a table lamp and book shelf is all that clutters the small blue-carpeted room. He drops his duffel bag on the floor beside the door and walks to his chair to sit down. He picks up a ratty history book from the library and settles down to read.

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NEVER SEE

--He watches out his window as the snow falls. The lower executives play with their children and stand with their wives, exchanging loving glances and stolen kisses. It makes him feel so empty but he does not understand why.--

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NEVER SEE WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

--A parade in the honor of General Sephiroth-now thirty-six years old, and of his victory in the Junon Cannon War. He sits atop a chocobo drawn carriage, a genuine smile splayed across his lips as he waves to the audience. A war-hero, a general, and an idol for all to cherish and adore.--

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WHAT IVE FELT

--_"My mother is coming to Midgar on Thursday!" _beams a young soldier to another. Sephiroth is sitting against a wall, knees drawn to his chest and ears perked to involuntarily overhear the conversation. _"You're lucky," _sighs the other, _"My mother is afraid of big cities. I won't get to see her 'till I take off on leave." _The two walk into a dorm room and the door shuts. _"At least you have a mother."_ Sephiroth thinks to himself bitterly. The thought of mother brings up old memories and he bows his head to his arms, bleeding inside. _"Nobody loves you Sephiroth. Nobody ever has. Get over it."--_

WHAT I'VE KNOWN

--Sephiroth walks into the science lab, glancing around for Hojo like a rabbit caught out in the open. His treatments have been altered, only twice a year now he had to go to the lab for shots. He didn't know which was worse- Hojo or the shots. He sat down on the table and the devil walked into the room, steel security door slamming hard behind him._ "Ah, Sephiroth my boy. You're here."--_

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NEVER SHINED THROUGH IN WHAT I'VE SHOWN

--Hojo's writing was worse than the finished product of a donkey trying to write with a feather quill. _August 27, xxxx _

He could have been the perfect _specimen. But no. He had to have the bloody genes of that dog Lucrecia. Ugh. No changing it now. If only he wasn't so…weak! So emotional…so…insecure! Damn it all. I cannot correct those problems at this point in time…we'll just have to cover them up.--_

NEVER FREE

--He throws a pack over his shoulder and walks out of his room, and out of midgar. He walks around the plains for hours, no set destination. Just wandering and looking for somewhere to go, somewhere to get away. Maybe Kalm Town. The sun is setting low on the ocean and he stops, kneeling down to watch, if only for a moment. In that moment he hears his name called and a group of Soldiers run towards him, calling his name. "General, where are you going?" He sighs. And stands, silently wishing he hadn't stopped.

"Home. I was only out for a walk."--

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NEVER ME

--"Can I not make my own decisions? Why are you always telling me what to do?! This is my life, and for once I would like to be incharge!" It was like President Shinra didn't hear him. He puffed his fat cigar and looked Sephiroth straight in the eye. 

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"Your mission is to check the Gongaga Reactor then head to North Corel and do the same. You'll be gone two weeks starting tomorrow."--

SO I DUB THEE UNFORGIVEN

--While in North Corel, things do not go accordingly. Three men die by his blade. It was self-defense on Sephiroth's behalf but the villagers there want nothing more to do with Shinra. They do not stop him or his men from finishing business and returning home to Midgar.--

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THEY DEDICATE THEIR LIVES 

--Hojo stands at the end of the desk in the conference room, opposite President Shinra and surrounded by associates. The wiry scientist is explaining something that his superior seems to like, approval shown through a wide grin that spreads across his round face as he claps his chubby hands together.--

TO RUNNING ALL OF HIS

--Sephiroth is called to the president's office. He stands in front of the man's desk, calm and collected looking down at him evenly. A large envelope is given to him. He nods and leaves knowing he has been given another assignment.--

HE TRIES TO PLEASE THEM ALL

--Nibelheim is his destination this time. The reasons same as before-to check any malfunctions in the reactor. Why this couldn't have been done when he was checking Corel and Gongaga, he does not know. He sighs slowly, closing his mind to the rumbling of the truck and the chatter of his Junior officers.--

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THIS BITTER MAN HE IS

--"I don't have a hometown." He laughs, until he has to clutch his side. He doesn't notice the others exchanging glances. _"Oh, what does it matter?"--_

THROUGH OUT HIS LIFE THE SAME

--He thumbs through the musty books in the library, reading his past. He is taken in by all the information and he doesn't leave, eat or sleep that day or the next. His men worry about him, but the traitors don't matter. He is in the basement library for three days before he emerges, and when he does the real Sephiroth is dead.--

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HE BATTLES CONSTANTLY

--The villagers don't stand a chance. His blade is moves swifter than they can run, and his anger is greater than their fear. The town is dead by morning, burned to the ground. And so is the Great General, Sephiroth.--

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THIS FIGHT HE CANNOT WIN

--"All that is left is to go north-The Promised Land waits for me over the snowy fields!" He chuckles, deep from within his gut, eyes spilling over with tears. _I will be God.--_

THIS TIRED MAN THEY SEE

--He stands before a blonde man, a former trooper of his with his sword poised to attack, but intentions to lose his life. Cloud's war-cry is chilling and Sephiroth drops his sword closing his eyes. When he opens them again he is dying.--

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NO LONGER CARES

--He leans weakly on hands and knees, Cloud hovering above him breathing hard. Blood rushes down his strong arms, pooling beneath him, and dripping from his mouth. Long hair once pale moonshine now gleams the scarlet color of death. Coughing fits rip through his chest and he crumbles onto the ground.-- 

THE OLD MAN THEN PREPARES

--He hears his name called, but cannot see from where it comes. Lacking the strength to move he has no choice but to lie still and wonder who would call such a demon. He closes his eyes and his body is dead. A hand reaches out towards him and he blinks, as if seeing for the first time before catching it and holding it awkwardly in his own. "_I am taking you home Sephiroth."--_

TO DIE REGRETFULLY

--He looks down on Cloud and his friends once more from his place above. For once, in a very long time, he sees things clearly and his heart weighs heavilly on past deeds._ "I am sorry…"_ They do not hear his whispered words as holy glows around them, holding their entranced stares from the deck of the Highwind.--

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THAT OLD MAN HERE IS ME

--Two opposites stand side by side, invisible to all others, watching as meteor is devoured by the green lifestream.--

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WHAT I'VE FELT 

--The young boy lays on the bed, his eyes bleeding tears into the pillow, shaking hands muffling hopeless sobs.--

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WHAT I'VE KNOWN

--"SEPHIROTH! GET IN HERE NOW!" Hojo's screams could be heard from down the halls. The boy's heart pounded in his chest, his eyes wide and cheek bruised. He had to escape. He stopped and looked at the end of the hall. Left or right? The entrance was…right! Too late- Hojo's bony arm was wrapped around his stomach and dragging him back to the lab. Kicking and Screaming didn't help him. It only caused more pain.--

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NEVER SHINE THROUGH IN WHAT I'VE SHOWN

--"Sephiroth! You have failed me my son! You could have been a god! But you let him- that failure _defeat you!"_

NEVER BE

--"How could you forgive me for what I have done? I have committed sins that no man could ever atone for!" He screams in rage and throws his sword, content to let it clatter loudly against the wall and fall to the floor.--

NEVER SEE

--A scientist watches the young boy from outside of his Cell, but the young child's back is turned, unaware of the scientists attentions. He looked so like his mother Lucrecia, but he would never know because his father, and the Scientists underling, Dr. Hojo, would never tell him.--

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WON'T SEE WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

--A young Sephiroth stands talking to a woman, a rare gleam on his eye and smile on his lips. She hands him a flower and he takes it, eyes widening in surprise as he mutters something to her. She replies shyly, a pink blush coloring her cheeks. He reaches into his pocket and hands her a gil, the price from the flower, but the girl just smiles and shakes her head, pushing his open hand back towards him. "For you."--

WHAT I'VE FELT

--"I HATE YOU HOJO! Someday you will regret all that you have ever done to me." Hojo laughed at the boy's rage, turning his back and walking into his office, shutting the door loudly behind him.--

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WHAT I'VE KNOWN

--"Where are all my friends Nana?" The child looked up to the old woman but she disregarded his question and lifted her nose higher into the air. The next day he learned she had asked to transfer and he got a new nanny. She lasted a week.--

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NEVER SHINED THROUGH IN WHAT I'VE SHOWN

--He arched the sword over his head and brought it down too swiftly. His foot slipped and he fell to the floor, hot cheek pressed against the cold stone floor. He had to learn this kata and if he kept messing up his instructor would not be happy.--

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NEVER FREE

--He ripped the base of the statue from the wall, embracing the cold metal against his chest and whispering his mothers name: Jenova.--

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NEVER ME

--He raised his hand to the sky, the small black marble rolling around in his palm. The power of the ancients flowed through his blood as words he had never spoken escaped his lips and called forth the Armageddon.

SO I DUB THEE UNFORGIVEN

--"You killed my mother! I will never forgive you Sephiroth! You're a Murderer!" Cloud's blonde eyebrows meshed together, his face flushed from screaming and the little vein in his throat pulsing with a life of it's own._ "I hate you! I hope you rot in hell you bastard!"--_

YOU LABLED ME

--'Just an experiment…'--

I'LL LABEL YOU

--"Killers. You were my downfall from the beginning."-- 

SO I DUB THEE UNFORGIVEN

--A magnificent red light streaks out of his body as it is wrapped in green. Holy. His vision fades to black and his eyes close one final time as his sword drops from his hand.--

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Disclaimer and Authors note: Ok the Unforgiven belongs to our money hungry music writers Metallica. Yay for them. Sephi and the gang belong to Squaresoft obviously.

The end is kinda …eh. Ja. But I like most of it. And I've been working on this thing a lot and the beginning has been revised a hundred thousand times or so. Basically whenever I opened the document. But after uh oh lets see…4 hours it's finished. 12:09 now…I'm ready to do my victory dance cause I haven't sat down and finished a fanfic for ages. Küss Küss, oiyasuminasai mein tamodachi.

Agg.


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